**** HRM Media Release
Residents urged to stay off frozen lakes and ponds until ice testing resumes
The Halifax Regional Municipality is advising residents that it is not currently safe to be on frozen lakes and ponds as there is noticeable thin ice and open water in many lakes across the region.
The municipality’s ice thickness testing program has not begun for the 2021/22 winter season as it is not yet safe for staff to be on the ice. Each year the municipality provides weekly reports on ice thickness testing undertaken on more than 70 lakes throughout the region. This testing will resume when conditions allow.
Residents are asked to take safety precautions for themselves and their families by avoiding any recreation activities on frozen lakes and ponds, including walking, ice fishing, snowmobiling, and skating until ice thickness testing resumes.
The Canadian Red Cross recommends that ice be at least 15 centimeters thick for individual skating, and at least 20 centimeters thick for group skating. Extreme caution is advised in areas where streams flow into and out of lakes. It is also important to note that ice conditions may vary over the entire surface of lakes and are subject to change with weather conditions.
